To the left the god Apollo plays his lyre on Mount Olympus, raising his right hand towards the Seasons or Horae, four female figures who dance in a circle in the centre. Two putti sit blowing bubbles nearby. In a landscape with an overgrown temple and framing tree to the right, an extensive river or lake is the dominant feature, with mountains in the background and a square tower on the left bank in the middle distance.

Based loosely on a passage from the Homeric Hymn to Apollo. The subject was popular with classical landscape painters of the 17th and 18th centuries. Apollo, god of the Sun, plays his lyre while the four Seasons dance to the music.

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Related Prints

E24 Richard Earlom and Robert Sayer after Wilson, Apollo and the Nymphs, Royal Academy of Arts, LondonE24A Richard Earlom and Robert Sayer after Wilson, Apollo and the Nymphs, National Museum Wales, CardiffE24B Richard Earlom and Robert Sayer after Wilson, Apollo and the Nymphs, The British Museum

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Related Paintings

P164 Apollo and the Seasons, Fitzwilliam Museum, CambridgeP164A Apollo and the Seasons, Indianapolis Museum of Art